Are you curious about how the online PARCC test is really going to look? There is a practice site available now for all students to use, even at home! There is a link in your “Teacher Apps” folder, in the “Student Apps” folder that will take you to the Pearson/PARCC Practice site. This is the direct link that will take you there: http://practice.parcc.testnav.com/#.
Some advice from people who have used the site:
1. Taking students through the Tutorial will be very important.
2. A possible problem for some students: you don’t have to click on the radio button to choose an item. You may inadvertently change some answers when you click on the words – not the button - for a different.
3. You may receive error messages. If you have any problems or receive any error messages, please make sure you send them to PARCC@support.pearson.comand get an Incident Number.
March 13
Last month you received sample assessment blueprints for an ELA question and for a Math question. This link will take you to the full Assessment Blueprints: http://www.parcconline.org/assessment-blueprints-test-specs You can scroll down to your grade level and/or content area to see Test Specification details.
March 20
Do you speak PARCC? Here is a list of PARCC-related acronyms, terms, and their meanings.
PARCC
Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers
PBA
Performance-Based Assessment (Will be administered in late March/Early April)
EOY
End-Of-Year Assessment (Will be administered in May/June)
MYA
Mid-Year Assessment (Will be administered Late Fall)
PNP
Personal Needs Profile (A document that must be completed for any student who receives certain accommodations. Click here for more details)
LEA
Local Education Agency
Field Test
Most schools in the PARCC Consortium (consisting of 18 states) are participating in a “Practice Test” to determine how the administration of both the paper and online versions of the tests will work. Student scores will not be shared with participants. All Harlem Schools are participating in the Field Test; individual classrooms were selected by ISBE.
TestNav
The online testing platform for PARCC testing that was developed by Pearson.
Student Authorization Ticket
All students who take the online test will receive a “Student Authorization Ticket” with a unique code they will use when logging in to take the test. This code ensures they receive access to the correct assessment, including any accommodations identified by a PNP or IEP.
Seal Code
Seal codes are used to lock sessions of the online test. They prevent students from going ahead to a session not being administered or going back to a session that has already been completed.
March 27
What test components will students take to get an overall, or summative, score at the end of the year?
PARCC has two required assessment components that make up a student’s overall score: the performance-based assessment (PBA) component and the end-of-year (EOY) assessment component. These will be given annually in ELA/literacy in grades 3–11; in mathematics, the assessments will be given annually in grades 3-8 and in high school math courses (Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II or their equivalent).
The performance-based assessment component is administered after about three-fourths of the instructional year is completed and requires students to apply their knowledge to complex problems and produce a product. For example, a student might be asked to read texts and write essays drawing from those. Similarly, a student could be asked to apply a key math concept toward solving real-world problems. The end-of-year assessment component is administered after about 90 percent of instructional days have passed. It requires students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired by responding to computer-scored questions.
March 6
Are you curious about how the online PARCC test is really going to look? There is a practice site available now for all students to use, even at home!
There is a link in your “Teacher Apps” folder, in the “Student Apps” folder that will take you to the Pearson/PARCC Practice site. This is the direct link that will take you there: http://practice.parcc.testnav.com/#.
Some advice from people who have used the site:
March 13
Last month you received sample assessment blueprints for an ELA question and for a Math question.
This link will take you to the full Assessment Blueprints: http://www.parcconline.org/assessment-blueprints-test-specs
You can scroll down to your grade level and/or content area to see Test Specification details.
March 20
Do you speak PARCC?
Here is a list of PARCC-related acronyms, terms, and their meanings.
All Harlem Schools are participating in the Field Test; individual classrooms were selected by ISBE.
March 27
What test components will students take to get an overall, or summative, score at the end of the year?
PARCC has two required assessment components that make up a student’s overall score: the performance-based assessment (PBA) component and the end-of-year (EOY) assessment component. These will be given annually in ELA/literacy in grades 3–11; in mathematics, the assessments will be given annually in grades 3-8 and in high school math courses (Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II or their equivalent).
The performance-based assessment component is administered after about three-fourths of the instructional year is completed and requires students to apply their knowledge to complex problems and produce a product. For example, a student might be asked to read texts and write essays drawing from those. Similarly, a student could be asked to apply a key math concept toward solving real-world problems. The end-of-year assessment component is administered after about 90 percent of instructional days have passed. It requires students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired by responding to computer-scored questions.